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Local groups in Aberdeen, Falkirk and the Highlands will join the whole of Scotland in celebrating this year’s Commonwealth Games, thanks to the latest National Lottery grants announced yesterday (14 January) from the Celebrate programme.

Across the country 22 groups are sharing in £160,610 to organise their own arts, heritage, sports and local community events which celebrate the Glasgow 2014 Games in their own unique way.
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Children from primary schools in Aberdeen will help to create a book of traditional and modern tales from around the world, thanks to a Celebrate grant of £10,000 to Aberdeen City Council, Education & Sport. The children and their families from Scotland, Eastern Europe, Mali, India, Pakistan and Ghana will work with a story teller and artists to share their stories, poems and songs. These will be written up and interpreted into a modern tale in the form of an e-book. The project will culminate in a community event where families will provide food and dancing from their home countries.

In the Highlands, Dementia Friendly Communities receives an award of £9,867 to host its own alternative Commonwealth Games event in June 2014. This will include activities such as welly tossing, cardboard caber tossing, skittles, Tai Chi and traditional school sports. For those unable to participate in physical activities there will also be craft activities such as decorating a commonwealth hat or flag and a reminiscence corner featuring school photographs and memorabilia. A torch relay will also pass through the main Sutherland villages during which peoples’ experiences of dementia will be collected for display at the event. Meanwhile pupils from Helmsdale High School will provide the soundtrack to the day by singing Commonwealth songs.

Pupils in primary schools across East Sutherland will take part in their own 2014 Commonwealth Games with an award of £4,275. The East Sutherland Schools Sports Association will provide sports coaching for 450 children in schools in Dornoch, Golspie, Rogart, Brora, Helmsdale, Lairg, Bonar Bridge, and Rosehall. This will include a range of sports from swimming and athletics to basketball and badminton and will end with a celebratory Games event in May 2014.

In Falkirk, Stenhousemuir Primary School receives £9,625 for a photography project that will inspire children to celebrate the 2014 Games in a fun and creative way. Over a six month period children aged 3 to 12, including those from Inchlair Nursery and Larbert Day Nursery, will work with an artist to photograph a range of Commonwealth Games inspired events in their area. Their work will then be shown in a public exhibition in the Forth Valley Royal Hospital.

Announcing the Celebrate funding Big Lottery Fund Scotland Chair, Maureen McGinn said: “Today’s Celebrate funding will enable groups from across Scotland to mark the 2014 Commonwealth Games in ways which are meaningful to them.  A Commonwealth photography project for children in Falkirk and a 2014 inspired sports event for pupils in the Highlands are just two examples of how the spirit of the Glasgow games is already being shared across the country. The Celebrate programme remains open for applications until the end of this year and we would encourage groups in all parts of Scotland to get in touch if they have ideas for activities."

Minister for External Affairs, Humza Yousaf welcomed the funding and said: “This money will give people from across Scotland the opportunity to connect to Glasgow 2014 and to celebrate the Commonwealth Games in their own communities.  With a plethora of outstanding events taking place In 2014 the eyes of world are on Scotland. It’s an opportunity to highlight our important place in the world but also demonstrate how we can relate and contribute positively to other cultures. “It’s exciting to see the variety of opportunities that are being created to engage as many people as possible to be part of Scotland’s moment to shine.”

Celebrate has been developed by the Scottish Lottery Distributors Forum (SLDF) which is made up of all four Scottish Lottery Distributors, Big Lottery Fund, Creative Scotland, Heritage Lottery Fund and sportscotland. It is open to applications until the end of 2014 for celebrations of the people, places and culture of the Commonwealth and of the Games themselves.

For more press or media information contact
Landa Rolland Communications Manager BIG Scotland 0141 242 1458 / 0782 355 2889 landa.rolland@biglotteryfund.org.uk

For more information about Celebrate
Go to our website www.celebrateit.org.uk

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Notes to editors

• Celebrate is a £4 million joint awards programme from the four Scottish Lottery distributors: Big Lottery Fund, Creative Scotland Heritage Lottery Fund and sportscotland
• Celebrate will allow communities across Scotland to apply for up to £10,000 organise events that celebrate the 2014 Commonwealth Games through arts, heritage, sports, community and local celebrations or events that celebrate the people places and culture of the commonwealth.
• Celebrate was launched in April 2013 and the last grants will be awarded in December 2014.